Networking

I'm a fairly self-assured person. Sure, I have days where I wonder about my place in the world or why, despite my best efforts, I continue to have jiggly arms. Still, most days, I'm confident of my abilities, my fabulous sense of humor, my remarkably average looks and my good fortune to know lots of killer-smart people. How, then, with all this self-confidence, did Facebook manage to hurt my feelings?

Lately, I’ve found myself repeatedly faced with the same request. Whether the goal is the increase sales or to find a job, the request is often the same. “Tell me the one thing that I need to do.” While the request may come in different forms, it is really the same.

Remember the old days when we began to use email for business communication and to send messages to multiple people simultaneously? Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who remembers when that was a big deal. It seems like eons ago, long before we tweeted and poked to get someone's attention. Not so fast. Email is still as important and relevant as it ever was. Two primary differences between email then and email now for me are:

Where did the romance go? When did we stop asking, "Tell me about yourself," "Do you like to take long walks on the beach?" or even the tired old line, "What's your sign?" Suddenly, upon meeting someone new, they immediately try to score and ask me to go over to their place to seal the deal.

While many of us use social networking tools differently, most of us struggle with similar questions and challenges.
Should I connect only with family and good friends on Facebook and only business contacts on LinkedIn?
How secure should I feel when using Facebook's privacy settings to determine which groups of friends can or cannot see particular photos?
Should I be concerned when someone tags me in a photo or I comment on someone else's post?

From the AlmostSavvy mailbag:
How do I stop receiving an email each time someone connects with me on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn can be a real workhorse when it comes to our networking efforts. The potential benefits are huge, but filtering content can become a challenge. The good news is, like most networking sites, we have the ability to customize how we'd like to receive information from our connections.

If you're a professional or business person, you know you need to be using LinkedIn wisely, right? And, college students, that goes for you, too. If you don't know why it matters or know deep-down in the pit of your stomach that you're really not all that sure what to do with LinkedIn, then this is for you......

I wasn't going to write about SXSW (South by Southwest). After being asked by countless people what I thought of it and whether they should attend next year, I gave in. Rather than write a comprehensive overview, I decided to just fill in the gaps with some points which may be helpful and different than what others have said.

Over the next couple of weeks, you may be hearing and reading a lot about SXSW (read: South by Southwest). In the real world, it may not be that big of a deal, to many in the tech, film or music worlds, it is a must place to be to see the latest and coolest things happening and mingle with those making it happen.

As the blog's readership and community have grown, I'm continually impressed with all of you. I'm pretty sure that I've learned far more from you than you have from me. You share your thoughts by commenting on blog posts, sending emails and tweets, and participating on my Facebook fan page. Through all of my activity online, I've met so many fabulous people I never would have met otherwise.